I do have to admit that most of the deviations that Halo introduced to the genre do make it work far better on a controller, even if I do find most of them unwelcome when added to a PC shooter. That being said the rationale behind checkpoint saves is still one I will never accept, especially since it led to two of the the games most frustrating moments for me. On the "Two Betrayals" level I was forced to replay most of the level again as the game only saves progress at checkpoints permanently if you gracefully close the game rather than powering off the console. Upon reaching the part of the game I was at before I then found myself stuck. The game saved a checkpoint just after my health had been taken down to only three bars, and I had exhausted all of the accessible medkits. This left me vulnerable to the point that even with full shields one hit from a rocket would kill me. In the end I only got past this section by storming straight past it in a vehicle to the next checkpoint, bypassing the rocketeer. Once this was accomplished I wanted to go back and finish off the enemies I had left behind, but they had all now vanished.

Then there is the final level "The Maw".

It starts out well enough, with the stages to blow up the fusion reactors being tedious but relatively straightforward, reminding me of the Leviathan ending of Shogo. Once that was done though the game took a huge turn for the worse. I am not enamoured with the way vehicles in Halo drive at all, so making it so I had to race one through the final stage of the game was almost enough to make me rage quit. The warthog especially handles like it is held together with elastic bands, and its tendency to flip and cumbersome seating arrangements make racing it an absolute pain. Once again though I was at the mercy of the checkpoint saves, which refused to mark my progress through any of the the stage, even though the game itself pauses midway through the race. I also had several huge frame drops here which for the premier launch title of the Xbox is simply unforgivable.

A horrible way to end an otherwise decent game. Halo does at least hold the distinction of being the only console game I have played in full though, at least for now.

Last edited by Tchernobog on Mon Apr 16, 2018 06:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I have been playing Yoshi's Island for the SNES (the best platforming game of all time) and Helldivers (the best co-op game of all time).

And as a free tip, Helldivers can be played for free on Steam for the next two days and there's loads of discount on the purchases:http://store.steampowered.com/app/394510/HELLDIVERS/ (If you haven't tried it yet, try it out and if you're going to buy it, just get the deluxe edition, because the DLCs are awesome in this game and you will end up buying them anyway.

Though if you have a PS4, I'd recommend that version, since the community seems to be bigger, resulting in more games to join.

I don't have a PS4, but that's where I made my first experience and I even bought a PS4 controller for playing it on the PC, since it is a way better experience than the mouse+keyboard combination.

The game does definitely get better as you go along, although the story just ending up as a bad X-Files serial I did not appreciate much. Getting to the top of Aesir Headquarters to take out Nicole Horne did make me think of CabalCo and Gideon from the third chapter of Blood II though. No matter what the platforming and the booby traps were tedious, and the game could have done without almost all of them. Bullet time and me still do not really get along either, because just like in F.E.A.R. or Chaser I only ever used it when I was stuck and needed a little extra help. Whenever a game gives me a selectable power up I always hold them in reserve to the point I almost never use them. Same thing with really powerful weapons. I blame the original Doom for allowing you to take out the Spider Mastermind with only a couple hits from the BFG if you saved up your cells.

Anyway, onto Max Payne 2 through WINE I guess. It is going to feel weird installing a game from CD-ROM again. Rockstar Games should really get on GOG.com already.

Last edited by Tchernobog on Mon Apr 16, 2018 06:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You can't play the Max Payne series like any other shooter. You have to embrace the bullet time and use it 24/7. It makes you feel like Chow Yun Fat in some John Woo movie. That was the whole point. Use it all the time. And yes the platforming crap in MP1 is universally hated. It's not in MP2. I loved MP2 way more.

That went a whole lot faster, and yes, I did use the bullet time a lot more in Max Payne 2. I will grant that a lot of my issues with it in the first game had more to do with the fact that I found it cumbersome to use on a controller. That being said, I was able to breeze through most of the first game without using it, while in Max Payne 2 if I had done so I would never have stood a chance. I also found myself using more of the rolls and dodges when playing as Mona rather than Max, because she is faster and has access to the Dragunov which makes quick kills easier. Mouse and keyboard still rules for me then.

Last edited by Tchernobog on Mon Apr 16, 2018 06:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I agree completely. Max Payne is an FPS at heart. Mouse and keyboard all the way. Played and own all 3 MP games on PC. Would never want to use a controller for them. You need to play MP3. Its the best in the series even though modding was almost completely removed for it. Oh and by the way if you beat MP2 on the hardest difficulty you get a happier ending.